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| Phys Ed: Can Touching Your Toes Test Your Arteries? |
| Gretchen Reynolds/ NYTimes.com |
| 12/23/2009 |
| For years, cardiologists were aware that heart attacks are more common during the winter months than in any other season. Most assumed that the cause was cold weather. But then researchers in California examined death certificates in Los Angeles County, an area not known for its inclement winters, and found that, even there, fatal heart attacks spiked during the winter months. More specifically, they started rising around Thanksgiving, climbed inexorably through Christmas and peaked on New Year’s Day. ... Why the number of heart-attack deaths should surge so significantly during the holidays still is not clear, although cardiologists have some well-founded guesses. “We suspect there is often an inappropriate delay in seeking medical attention” at this time of year, says Dr. Robert A. Kloner, a professor of medicine at the University of Southern California, a cardiologist at Good Samaritan Hospital and the lead author of both the 2004 study of deaths in Los Angeles County and the accompanying editorial. “People ignore the pain in their chest,” perhaps because they don’t wish to disrupt the festivities or they misinterpret the ache as overindulgence, Dr. Kloner says. By the time they get to an emergency room, it’s too late to save them. Stress and tension likely play a role, too. “Spending time with family members can be trying,” he says. “And there are often concerns about financial issues, buying presents and so on.” Even a wood-burning fireplace, a romantic symbol of wintry, holiday evenings, could be a contributing factor, because particulate matter in the air has been connected to an increase in the risk of heart attacks, Dr. Kloner says. ... A provocative new study published this year in the journal Heart and Circulatory Physiology suggests, however, that there may be a novel way to test at least one element of your heart’s health right in your own living room, right in the middle of the holidays. Sit on the floor with your legs stretched straight out in front of you, toes pointing up. Reach forward from the hips. Are you flexible enough to touch your toes? If so, then your cardiac arteries probably are also flexible. ... What the researchers found was a clear correlation between inflexible bodies and inflexible arteries in subjects older than 40. More study is needed to explore the correlation. As for avoiding the “Merry Christmas Coronary,” Dr. Kloner’s advice is succinct: “Don’t ignore symptoms,” he says. Avoid overimbibing, too, and tamp down stress. If this requires turning down an invitation from a wheedling relative, you could always try explaining that your cardiologist would say that it’s for the best. For complete story go to: http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/12/23/phys-ed-can-touching-your-toes-test-your-arteries/?emc=eta1 ... |
| Additional Information: http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/12/23/phys-ed-can-touching-your-toes-test-your-arteries/?emc=eta1 |